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Review:Austin Powers, The Spy Who Shagged Me 190

Posted by CmdrTaco from the rob-leaves-the-house dept.
When I saw the original Austin Powers, I was unimpressed. It was funny- better than recent Mike Meyers fare (Axe Murderer and WW2 were each mediocre IMHO) but it certainly wasn't setting the world on fire. With word of the sequel coming out, I watched the tape again. And again. And again. It grew on me a lot. And so I was quite excited when I went to the theater (Holland has 2 theaters: wouldn't ya know it, Austin Powers was shown in the crappy one) to see it, I went in open minded, and enjoyed the ride. Click below to read my take on it.
Ok, here's the Plot Summary: Austin (Meyers) goes back to the 60s in a psychedelic VW to chase Dr. Evil (Meyers) who's evil henchman Fat Bastard (Meyers) stole Austin's "Mojo". Dr. Evil has a death ray, and the best charachters from the original (SCOTT! The Frau, Number 2, and even Mr. Bigglesworth, although in limited form) are back.

As with the original, the bad guys steal the show. Every time Dr. Evil's gang of baddies meets up in his hollowed out volcano fortress, get ready to laugh. Scott's charachter is expanded, and given a rival in the form of "Mini-Me", Dr. Evil's clone... 1/8th the size (complete with his own miniature kitty).

Austin is once again the least interesting of the charachters. He repeats many of the original jokes, and throws in a few new zingers that will get ya good. Dr. Evil is a little softer this time around, but still drop dead funny. Mini-Me is absolute genius. Truly offensive, and a total a riot. Almost every gag involving him got a huge laugh from the sold out theater I was in, and usually I was part of it.

And then there is the matter of Heather Graham- ah yes Heather, let me sing your praises. As Felicity Shagwell she performs quite well. With tight outfits and dirty innuendo absolutely perfect for Austin's counterpoint, she scores many points, and usually is the best part of any of the Austin Power scenes. She won't win an acadamy award, but she'll get your Mojo going, and squeeze a lot of laughs out of you.

So anyway, the summary: this is probably the second most hyped film of the season, but its worth the hype. Its not going to change the world, cause world peace, feed the homeless, or preach to you about anything. It will make numerous random low brow jokes about short people, fat people, poop, farting, sex, lesbianism, and involves lots of disobediant children. If you enjoy watching the bad guys sing commercials, and build fortresses with names like "Moon Unit Alpha" and "Moon Unit Zappa", well If thats your bag, you'll enjoy this film baby. If its not, go watch something else and save the bucks.

Austin Powers was better the second time around tho. I'm curious what this one will do for me if I see it again. But this movie is definitely gonna make a lot of money this summer. And it deserves it more than that other summer blockbuster does.
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Review:Austin Powers, The Spy Who Shagged Me More

Review:Austin Powers, The Spy Who Shagged Me

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  • | Alien 4 was better then Alien 3, that was better
    | then Alien 2, that was better then the
    | original! :)

    Oh come on. _The Blood Waters of Dr. Z_ was a better film than _Alien 3_ (aka Alienses).

    _Aliens_ was an inferior film to the original mainly because nearly all the suspense was drained from the film by heavy automatic weapons fire and a really, really annoying kid. All that was left was Scrawny Weaver running around with a machine gun. And don't get me started on the whole dropship sequence!
  • I take it that you did not see Alien when it first appear on the silver screen. Up to that point, scifi films were fairly sterile. Alien was ground breaking in that it introduced "regular" people in a unglamorous environment in space. Add in the terror in space, and you have a classic.

    Aliens was also very good. Ripley at the end of the film played the role of the tough, kick-ass woman to another level. This was not the norm in cinema. Hamilton in T2 completed this evolution.

  • Frank Zappa Reference (Score:2)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Just wanted to point out that "Moon Unit Zappa"
    was the name of (the late (sniff)) Frank
    Zappa's daughter. Somewhere I've got a 45 of
    "valley girl" with her picture on the slipcover.
    A treasure.

    If everyone already knows this, moderate this post
    into the basement.

    -- cary
  • 2 hour commercial with some sporadic boobage.
    ----------------- ------------ ---- --- - - - -
  • evil dead 2 and army of darkness (evil dead 3). That's a series that got better and better every time they made another movie.

  • Lucas should have cast Mini-Me instead of Jar Jar... that would have been a riot.

  • Bah. (Score:1)

    by Trepidity ( 597 )
    And it deserves it more than that other summer blockbuster does.

    Heresy!

    This was just an amusing bathroom-humor movie. It was not an epic saga =)
  • Amazon.com? :)

    (Is it something in Seattle's water, or is it a coincidence that they spawn huge, monolithic companies?)

  • Posted by oNZeNeMo (guns'n ammo):

    Mini-Me doesn't have a Mini-cat.
  • Posted by funk311:

    i believe the woman you are refering to (that woman from the first movie) is Liz Hurley...
  • Posted by JudgementX:

    WARNING--DISCUSSES SOME PARTS OF MOVIE

    Okay first off, I loved Austin Powers and I definetely love the sequel, but one thing that really bothered me was the writing off of Elizabeth Hurley as a fembot and then replacing Austin's counterpoint with Heather Graham. I mean I won't argue the fact that Heather Graham is hot as hell, but Hurley was definetely a better actress and played a better role at countering Austin's lines in the original. I realize that it was supposed to be a funny write-off with Vanessa being a Fembot and it allowed Austin to go back to swinging, but I just wish that they didn't kill Vanessa off. That way she could be in the next Austin Powers because she was one of the best parts of the first one. Part of me was kinda sad when she blew up (literally) after remember how funny and awesome she was in the original... sigh... But I'm sure that everyone just cares that Heather Graham is a hotty...but alas my heart goes out to Elizabeth Hurley who is definetely the more shagadelic babe. Comments anyone?
  • Are you smoking cra-- oh... nevermind...


    :)
  • I didn't expect it to be that great because I figured they'd just recycle all the same jokes from the last movie, and they did, but it beat my expectations. But still, I thought it was only okay.

    I guess his brand of low brow humor just isn't my bag, baby.

    Then again Kids in the Hall... now THAT's commedy.
  • One of my friends in SF pointed out that she ought to get some new, high-profile parts to keep her movie career swingin'. She did the artsy Permanent Midnight and some other forgettable films, but dammit, she's way too hot and too solid an actress to be marginalized!

    Maybe it's time for a letter-writing campaign. ;-)

  • Someone else mentioned M*A*S*H...

    Also,

    Buffy the Vampire Slayer
    Stargate SG1
    Highlander
    La Femme Nakita (haven't watched this one, but have heard it is good)

    You are welcome to think that any of those are terrible. Except M*A*S*H. Don't be dissin' M*A*S*H.
  • Dweezil also does the voice of Ajax on "Duckman". And he had a short-lived hair-metal gig in the late 80s...

    As for the new Powers flick, I find it more than just a little disturbing that the most intriguing part of the promos is the seduction scene with Dr. Evil and his evil hench-wench. *shudder*
  • Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal." Certainly gives one food for thought (if you'll forgive the pun).

    Now, see? An incomplete B.A. in English Literature IS useful! :)
  • I didn't like it because the structure was almost entirely the same as the original... Even the same materials were used, just slightly expanded (probably with the rejected stuff from the first)... Number two falling over the cliff, Dr. Evil telling Scott to shut up with all of the "shhh!" stuff, it just wasn't as funny the second time around.

    There were funny original scenes, but they were rare.

    I for one was quite disappointed.

  • Terminator 2, Gremlins 2, Star Trek II, IV, VI just off the top of my head.
  • Ummmmmm DUH

    Didn't you see the product placement scenes in Waynes World? It's part of the gag. At least Mike Myers makes them funny! Damm you are sooooooo uptight!

  • The new Austin Powers movie is already out or did Rob get a free preview of it or something? I thought it was due out this summer.
  • Well, most High School's aren't out yet, at least around here, and I was most likely referring to the "high school summer", where it's the 2 months after school has ended for the year and vacation has arrived. On a side note, I just stopped by blockbuster and rented the orignal austin powers, to wet my appitite. :)
  • Try Highlander. After watching a few seasons of Highlander (feel free to skip the first season or two -- it takes a while for the series to really get going), with the story and character development and so on, it's really impossible to go back and watch the movies. The first movie was great, or so I thought, but having watched it again recently, it's utter crap compared to the series. The Kurgan is particular is so incredibly cheesy and cartoonish, no where near as well played as Kalas from the series.

    Buffy The Vampire Slayer is also a great example of a mediocre (well, bad really) movie turned into a great series.

    Again, I think it's the format that makes the difference. You can't tell a great story in 2 hours. Best you can do is hit the highlights to entertain those with attention spans too short to follow a series. No real chance for in depth background or in depth development in a 2 hour movie. Can you imagine the whole B5 storyline compressed into 2 hours? Gimme a break! TV series have to be very badly done to not be better than a movie...

    Unfortunately, most TV series are very badly done...

    --

  • Here is my take on the movie. I went to see it thursday (at a sneak preview where it was showing on more screens than star wars).

    Overall the movie was funny. Being as I live in chicago I also have some sort of perverse attachment to Jerry Springer, so the whole springer scene in the beginning and end was excellent. Definately gets you going.

    There were some parts that you would rather not have to see, such as the Felicity and Fat Bastard scene.

    I would have to agree that Mini-Me was one of the best parts of the movie. What could be cuter than a little midget giving the finger?

    But it didn't seem like a movie. Just a conglomeration of skits put together that on their own were hilarious. Worth a viewing once, but I wouldn't say much more than that. I don't think it will have the staying power of other great comedy movies like Ghostbusters and Caddyshack because it dates itself too much to the 90's with the songs and the jokes etc.

  • See the Salon article [salon.com]

    --which takes an opposite view...that too much time is wasted on Dr. Evil, and not enough on other characters and Powers himself.

    Personally, I find Powers, as a caricature, terribly amusing, at a low consumption level. After about five minutes, I find myself wanting to tear my hair out. The problem I had with the first film is that it was like a Saturday Night Live skit that was too long. (A common criticism.) Nevertheless, I find Powers so interesting, I'll probably see the film anyway.

  • PTM: "Grab tenaciously to my buttocks!"

    Pope: "Both of them?"

    (my two cents)

  • I saw a 4:15 showing of it yesterday, and it was complete with idiots chanting, "yeah baybee" throughout the 6 previews shown, and 11-16 year old kiddies running rampant. The movie itself was cheezy as hell, but it was supposed to be that way. The original, as everyone knows, was a comical parody of 60's spy flicks, and the sequel was obviously based around the same thing.
    It amuses me to hear people say that it was unoriginal and predictable. It was SUPPOSED to be all of that. However, at the same time, it was very creatively written and directed. The character acting of Austin Powers and Dr. Evil were excellent, and Felicity Shagwell and Fat Bastard actually had me laughing out loud.
    It's simply a great movie. I'd definitely see this movie again before seeing The Phantom Menace again. And no, I'm not smoking crack.
  • I found it quite comical that the most evil coffee company is also owned by one Dr. Evil. :)
  • If that were the case, I might have seen TPM a second time. And when I go shopping and see all of those "cute" Jar Jar T-shirts, dolls, and posters with Fat Bastard on there instead of Jar Jar, it would really make my day.
  • ...is the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.

  • It looks like I'm pretty much alone on this one, but I really didn't like AP2 that much. It was about what I had expected, but it just wasn't as enjoyable to me as the first one. It kinda gave me the impression that everybody just got together for a weekend and threw together a movie. I know it's supposed to be like that, but I thought the general style of the first movie was better.

    The characters didn't really seem to carry over from the first movie very well either. Dr. Evil seemed way too... competent in this movie, Austin seemed too incompetent, and Felicity doesn't even compare to Vanessa in the first one.

    Then there were those other characters... I think Fat Bastard and Mini Me both give Jar Jar some strong competition for "Most Annoying Character of 1999".

    Now, before you start flaming me, I just want to make a point... I didn't say I hated the movie. The jokes were wonderful... I think I laughed way more at this movie than I did at AP1 the first time I saw it. But the movie itself just didn't appeal to me... that's why I think the first one was better.
  • Aliens (Alien 2) was by far the best of the series. Alien didn't move fast enough, although it was excellent moviemaking. Alien 3 didn't have nearly enough guns, and although it had more plot, it wasn't the good old-fashioned People vs Aliens type movie. It was bags of meat running around avoiding a lion. Alien 4 was very cool, with nice flashy special fx, but the plot lacked depth, and was an obvious kludge to bring Ripley back for one more movie.

    AP 2 was a pretty decent movie, but like the first one, I'm gonna have to see this many more times to get all the little jokes hidden in everything. This series is one you just have to see more than once to really appreciate.
  • It would have been better in my opinion. Call me a pervert, but seeing Heather naked again (first time was in Boogie Nights) would have been wonderful. PG-13 as a rating for comedies sucks. I like comedies that are either RAW (Cheech & Chong) or CLEAN (Disney). Film companies trying to get both the adults and the kids with the PG-13 are not allowing either group to fully enjoy the film. There is no way I would take my 13-15 year old to see that movie.


    And as an adult movie it was ruined by not being RAW enough.

  • PG-13 (Score:1)

    by BigEd ( 6405 )
    Notting Hill was rated PG-13... and it's WAY worse. I think that the MPAA is getting a lot less strict with dialogue and sexual innuendo, and a lot more strict with violence and explicit sex scenes.

    I think with the recent pushes from President Clinton and family type organizations to stop kids from viewing violence and sex in movies we'll see more and more movies come out PG-13 that would have been R a couple of years ago. Not because they're any less raunchy, but because right now violence is the current target. I'm kind of surprised that Phantom Menace got the PG rating. A certain Darth Maul scene really did (IMHO) deserve a PG-13 rating, and Lucas must have thought the same thing since he did the scene two different ways (hopefully that was spoiler free enough).

    I think it will be interesting to see how Hollywood reacts to the latest attacks on violence from politicians. There are already quite a few studios who demand R ratings, how long will it be before PG-13 is as far as a director can take a movie and still get good funding? Even some of the independent/smaller studios (can we say Mirimax) are shying away from more violent/sexually explicit films. I have a strong stomach for sex and violence (my girlfriend always complains that all of the movies we watch are too dark, hence the occasional Notting Hill), but I fear that some day soon I won't even be able to watch violent art house movies on the big screen anymore.

  • No, then everyone would be crying that The Phantom Menace makes fun of the vertically challenged...

    Smaller person: "That 'Jar-Jar' character belittles my people"
    Larry King: "I think he's an insult to all of us, little man (*snicker*)"

  • ** MILD SPOILER ALERT **

    I loved it! I was quite suprised that the movie only had a PG-13 rating though.. The movie was clearly full of sexual innuendo/content. (of course I LOVED that ;)

    My favorite part was Dr. Evil singing his version of 'Just The Two Of Us' , REALLY cool.

    I wonder which companies paid for advertising? :) From the 'AOL You Have Mail' Headquarters call in the sports car, Dr. Evil's corperation owning Starbucks coffee, and the clearly shown Virgin superstore.. i was just a little curious...

    Quite a lot of cameo appearences also... my suggestion: go see it right now! (unless your a highly religious nut who hates perversion, in that case avoid it at all costs)

    -Cybie! - My cool homepage [ralph.cx] - My really cool START page :) [arcticnet.net]
  • I saw it last night too, and I'm going to have to say that I about cried laughing during the Jerry Springer scenes. Seeing Jerry Springer fighting with Dr Evil was too funny. I thought the movie as a whole was very well done. There arent very many movies that I will watch over and over, but I think this one will make that list.
  • Don't say that! :)

    I cannot think of a movie turned into an episode-based series that has worked. Ever. They're all terrible. Same goes for cartoons of the movie. The Fugitive worked in the other direction. Some people would say Lost in Space and others have qworked in the other direction. But that's it. Just imagine the formula they would write to in a series... So repetative, such a stain on the memory of the movies...
  • to the original Austin Powers, where they show a conflict between British Intelligence and the Unger Ground Laaaiiirr - Austin vs Dr Evil in their original time and place. Hopefully with touches of the original James Bond movies, combined with 60s cliches. Have them at one of the key concerts or in Czecaslovakia or France '68 or something :) :) (It may be too complex for an AP movie, but imagine if Austin started the 68 riots as a plan to destabilise France just because in tradition the French and British do that to eeach other as much as possible. :) ) With two movies to reflect on, any blast to the past would really rock. Plus they can plug the prequal thing :)
  • Sorry aboutthat last one... my browser has done something *wierd*...

    I don't think it will have the
    staying power of other great comedy movies like Ghostbusters and Caddyshack because it dates itself
    too much to the 90's with the songs and the jokes etc.

    I'm not so sure. It's more a testament to the time, and I think people will appreciate that. Half the in-jokes in the first one were partly lost on me because, for example, they don't sell lucky charm breakfast cerials in Australia (we got Kelloggs baby). But at the same time, it's so ridiculous that you laugh anyway. You have a valid point - Python continues to be funny today. Whereas the D-Generation, Late Show (not Larry's) or Good News Week - both in their time have been incredible funny Australian shows, but often with current politics and news as their focus, which will make them lose their sting with time.

    But then, people still read Swift's A Modest Proposal and Gullivers Travels both of which are primarily political satires, so perhaps there's hope for Austin Powers yet :)

    I really hope they do something godo with the next movie. A really good thing would be if they made a prequal to the original Austin Powers, where they show a conflict between British Intelligence and the Unger Ground Laaaiiirr - Austin vs Dr Evil in their original time and place. Hopefully with touches of the original James Bond movies, combined with 60s cliches. Have them at France '68 or something :) :) (It may be too complex for an AP movie, but imagine if Austin started the 68 riots as a plan to destabilise France just because in tradition the French and British do that to eeach other as much as possible. :) ) With two movies to reflect on, any blast to the past would really rock.
  • OK, it's not like it would ever win an Oscar, and it would be surprising if it even wound up being a good movie, but Liz Hurley would be a great choice to play Lara Croft. She has the looks, she can act, and she's British. I don't know if she can do running backflips while firing mini-Uzis in each hand, but they could hire a trainer...
  • Is it just me, or did Number 2 look like he was laughing his ass off when Dr. Evil was throwing the big globe in his face ?
  • I agree, the first time I saw "SIMAAM" I was mildly amused, but when HBO and Showtime started running it several times a week, and I saw it more, I laughed more and more each time I saw it. It's not my favorite Mike Meyers movie, hands down.
    Mike Meyers as his dad is absolutely hilarious, and the whole bit he does about Colonel Sanders putting a secret ingredient in his extra crispy tasty chicken to make you crave it fortnightly makes me bust up.
  • Don't forget, he also played the role of Fat Bastard, which was funny as all hell as well!
  • I've heard alot of posts on hear about AP complaining that the repeated jokes were bad. I thought it was pretty hysterical! I don't think they were expecting you to think they were funny for the same reason you did in the first movie, I think they wanted you to think they were funny just because they were being done again!

    The "Zip It" scene was pretty damn funny IMHO
  • I totally argee. The need to redo jokes from the first wasn't needed, but the orginal ones that are in AP2 are good enough on their own merit. I wasn't disappointed with it, but IMO it wasn't as good as the first. Austin Powers (the character) was just better in the first. I guess it's just because Austin Powers in his own environment is just like everyone else, but in the 90s he was a sight to behold.

  • Could someone please tell Rob that it's Mike Myers? I mean, I hate to be "that guy" who nitpicks, but a journalist of Rob's caliber surely won't mind getting the little details right.

    bAz

  • He was probably talking about the Meridian 16, which is the big movie complex downtown by Gameworks.

    I went and saw it there and it did indeed have the stupid radio playing before-hand. Cinerama is indeed an awesome theater however.
  • I have to agree. SIMAAM is a hilarious movie. One of my all time favorites.

    "HEED...Pants" You gotta love when he plays his dad. "Probably going to cry himself to sleep on his HUGE pilla"
  • I thought the movie was one of the funniest I have ever seen. It may have just been the laughing mood I was in, but I cracked up at nearly everything. There are so many small little Simpson-eque type jokes thrown in throughout the movie that you only really appreciate the second time you see it.

    But, they missed a HUGE joke, which I was waiting for the entire "Shuttle" scene. I would think since the movie is all about England they would have gotten this, but why wasn't there a SHUTTLECOCK joke?

    It kind of made me mad they didn't have one, but oh well. The movie was great and I highly reccomend it if you are in a jovial mood at the time.

  • I think people who were really into the first movie and saw it many times would not like this movie on a "whether it is a good movie basis" but will still enjoy the humor a lot. The big fans may have been expecting an original plot then see it and realize that it is essentially the same plot only backwards (goes back in time instead of forwards, and attacks from moon instead of center of the earth).

    This leads big fans to not really enjoy it on a cinematic basis, but you have to realize that nearly EVERY little and big thing in this movie is a satire. The generic plot is making fun of the generic plots of the spy movies, so you really can't criticize it for that. The first one was more original because it was the first one. It is hard to use the same characters and still be original in the sequel.

    I think the reason the star wars trilogy was so well recieved is because they didn't have VCR then and the fans couldn't buy the movie and watch it a million times then be disappointed when they saw the sequel because they had grown to love the the first or second one (you get the point). With this the fans have been watching the first movie so much and may be expecting so much (see: TPM) only to be let down by certain elements.

    Think of it this way, if this movie had been the first one would you have liked Austin Powers as much? Personally, I thought this movie was funnier though it may not have the repeatability the first movie had.

    Whether you like each character, can't really help that. I hated Fat Bastard, I thought he was extremely stupid and unneccesary, but Mini-Me was absolutely hilarious. Fat Bastard's only funny thing was "Get in my tummy!" (overplayed in the commercials).

    Just try to look at the movie for how it was, and forget what you expected it to be. Movies are so much better when you know nothing about them going into it (why i hate critics).

  • There are three ports on their space suits, labelled:
    H2O, O2 (two's subscripted)
    and
    P2 (two superscripted)

    Water, Oxygen, and pee-pee. I figured this out in the middle of another gag and just about lost it.

    -josh
  • >Number two falling over the cliff..

    Considering how much you paid attention to the file (it was Mustafa that fell over the cliff).. I don't give your comments much weight.

    Yes, I saw the film.. yes, a lot of it was recycled.. and yes, I thought it was funnier than hell. I mean what were you expecting?!? AP movies are "turn off your brain and just enjoy the ride" types of movies.. stop analyzing them.

    The line where they looked into the camera (AP and Basil Exposition) and basically said "forget the plot holes and just enjoy yourself," had me cracking up... they admitted that rather than try to make the picture fit perfectly with the first, they just decided to have fun.

    BTW, the falling over the cliff thing.. he (Mustafa) even asked Austin if he remembered him, then said what his name was. Were you sleeping?
  • Yep... I think I was the only one in the theater where I saw it who not only has seen the Flint films... but knew that the joke was a reference to reality and not something made up.

    Coburn rocked in those films! :)
  • Most movies end up doing this. But most try and lessen the impact of it. But I think the whole idea was to make fun of the sponsorship.

    Having Dr. Evil own Starbucks is damned funny, and if made more money for the movie, all the better.
    - Paradox
  • My wife and I went to see it friday night. We never made it into the film. A line of 14 - 16 year olds were waiting to get into the theatre in full 60's sytle dress. It was pretty "cute" seein g them all dressed up in what looked like their parents old wardrobes; however, my wife and I really wanted to see the new AP2 movie.
  • I don't appreciate being called a 16yr old kiddie, geezer!

    =P
    Our plans are simple.. . infiltrate and take over the world!! You old hoagies don't stand a chance -- you'll inevitably be extinct! BWAhahahah
  • Austin Powers is a clever spoof on Bondish movies that seem to come out every year. Austin Powers is funny. Austin Powers is lowbrow, slapstick, and sometimes, witty to the point of genius.

    Austin Powers is not meant to have any kind of engaging plot. Austin Powers does not care that Austin Powers is not meant to have any kind of engaging plot, and the makers make no attempt to hide this fact. Some movies will go to great lengths to try to fill holes in the plot, at the expense of hokiness. Austin Powers basically tells the audience point blank that it doesn't care. At all. It's that scene when Austin is going back in time and gets confused by the paradoxes that arise. He - and the audience - are told, and I quote, "enjoy the ride".

    If you laughed more in this than the first, great! I did. I can't imagine why else anyone would want to see it if not to laugh.

    Just my $0.000000002
  • One of the points made by TSWSM [austinpowers.com] was how sequels are usually (always?) worse than the originals. Not only were they parodying the most-hyped film of '99, but also the second-most hyped one (themselves). There was quite alot of self-parody in there.

    The thing that really annoyed me was how moronic the majority of the audience were. Did they not watch the credits of AP? Did they not think "gee, maybe they'll do the same thing?" I guess not. Everyone else stood up as soon as the credits started rolling and made like lemmings to the exits. The first bits of extra footage stopped them in their tracks, but they didn't bother to sit down. Idiots. So that ends, they start moving to the exit again. "Duh, that must be it, even though the text has moved over to the other side of the screen". Idiots, they actually seemed surprised when the second bit started. By the time all the credits had rolled by, there were 6 people left in the theatre, 4 of whom actually saw the last bit (the other two were making out in the back row).

    Ob Spoiler: "I've made a makeshift splint. Here goes nothing. ... Augh!"

  • Yeah, but that cat was the same size as the original Mr. Bigglesworth.
  • As a matter of fact there were 5 asses (1 used as "a-hole"), 4 damns, 4 craps, 2 uses of "bugger," 2 hells, 1 incomplete "What the..." (from Scr eenIt [screenit.com])
  • Try The Empire Strikes Back or The Return of the Jedi, both better than the original A New Hope.

    Also, though there are some people who consider this to be blasphemy, I liked Romero's Dawn of the Dead better than Night of the Living Dead.

    And I know MANY people who liked Back to the Future 3 over the first two.

    It's all really a matter of preference, but there ARE examples out there.
  • Actually, I personally thought she was pretty painful to watch. Kinda had a "Why am I saying these lines?" attitude. She didn't seem to get into the same spirit that the woman from the first movie did, even if she was a Fembot.
  • I think that Heather Graham's part would have been much better if she'd been on rollerskates, at least once.
  • For those unfortunet saps that didn't wait what happed at the very end?
  • I look at the repetativeness of the second one as part of the running gags. It's a play on all of the James Bond movies and how they are completely formulaic. So, it can't be a spy movie sequel UNLESS it is very similar to what came before it.
  • LOL!

    I saw AP2 last night, and when it cut to the Space Needle the entire audience lost it for about a minute and a half. Very cathartic. I wish it was M$, but they NEVER would've gone for that.

    As far as "huge, monolithic companies" go, most high-tech people here consider M$ a "Hahvahd" company. Adobe ain't native either. Amazon is local, but horror stories from contract workers around here keep Amazon pride low in this region. Boeing is being hated more and more. And Starbucks is just a big fat joke. Other cities eat their franchises up like crazy because they don't know better, but NW people tend to support small coffeehouses and independent roasters, etc. (Except for uppity Eastsiders who crave "consistency" and Oprah books.)

    -- octopus
  • i have it, too, and i know *exactly* where it is and if you ask nicely, i'll recite it for you ;)
  • Hey, it's a logical step from the one to the other. If Dr. Evil takes over the coffee supply of the Seattle area, all the coffee-dependent technology shops here, M$ included, will be under his heel. :-)
  • You know, there are usually enough cinemas near each other in a region, with the same films, to compete with each other on ticket prices.

    So why are ticket prices so high? And of course the refreshment prices, and the pre-movie ads...

    Could it be that all those multi-million-dollar price tags on the films themselves are being passed on to the theaters? That maybe the profit margins in the theater business aren't as high as all that?

    Of course, I've never worked in the theater business, so I wouldn't know. But with movie viewership on a slide everywhere, I don't see why the theater operators wouldn't let some of the profits go back into the business so that it doesn't die altogether.
  • Totally agree. Evil Dead was just a crappy horror movie that looked funny, whereas the two sequels were supposed to be horror comedies and achieved their goals
  • Maybe at first, I think this was done to death. I mean, to repeat the joke a second time was kind of flogging a dead horse.

    Otherwise I enjoyed it. Jerry Springer bit -- hilarious.
  • > independent/smaller studios (can we say Mirimax)

    You mean Miramax, a studio/distribution arm of that small company called Disney?

    The independence of Miramax is sorely testable, even outside the legal sphere -- after all, the holy rollers love a boycott. Remember how upset people got about Priest [imdb.com]?
  • I too was not really impressed with the first Austin Powers movie the first time I saw it. But the more I watched it the funnier it got, I worked at a theater at the time so I watched it a lot. I still haven't decided which one I like better yet, Scott and Mini-me made this one great. And regarding Heather Graham,... ahhhhhhhhhhhhh
  • When they were showing the starbucks in seattle, I just couldn't help but wonder how funny it would have been if they would have used that "OTHER" company from Washington instead.
  • I almost threw up when they did that Heinnekhen ad... I could deal with the Virgin Atlantic banner, and even the Starbucks thing was ok because at least that was part of a joke... you know "Ha ha, they own part of starbucks, starbucks is evil." but the beer thing was just terrible. Just a flat out ad.
  • It was worse than that, it was stupid and boring. I thought the original Powers was brilliant, funny, and irreverent. The second was so pointless I fell asleep. Fell asleep! I don't remember the second half at all.

    Have we ever seen Myers so annoying? Except for his Scottish accent as Fat Bastard (reprising yet another past movie role) he was unfunny in the extreme. C'mon, please, the little silhouette with Heather Graham pounding a tennis racquet into his ***hole was cheap, pandering, at best, to the dirty little man in all of us.

    A highly forgettable movie, which is disappointing, considering how it will blemish my memory of the classic original.

    MJP

  • I thought the improvisation was good, but it tended to make the film seem more like sketch comedy (SNL style) with a tenuous thread of plot woven through it. The fact that plot really isn't necessary to make this film enjoyable makes me think that it would probably do well as a 30/60min TV series.
  • Uhh...it's the middle of June -- that usually counts as "this summer"...even here in snowy Minnesota.

    Yes, it's out. It opened Friday.

    --quazi
  • I saw an interview with Meyers on E! (that great cultural train wreck) the day before the movie opened, and he basically said that he just gets the jingles in his head, and when he can't get them out, it just strikes him as really funny. For my part, I now might actually enjoy those stupid Chili's commercials!
  • Anyone catch the "In Like Flint" scene in the very beginning? I found that to be hilarious, seeing as the Flint movies (were the two or three?) were some of the first movies to spoof the spy genre.

    Great movie overall, even the recycled jokes were still funny.

    --FroBugg
  • I think it's Holland, MI.
  • Did every one catch the mac G3 (iMac too?) keyboard that was sitting next to the "time machine"? I especially ejoyed all the product sponsorships that had no point other than shameless advertising, and Mustafa's return.
  • www.zip-it.com
    hehe


    ---------------
    Chad Okere
  • haha, I got out of highschool 1 month ago :P
    (and I got out of highschool for *good* to :)



    ---------------
    Chad Okere
  • Anybody who enjoyed the first movie will get a belly full of laughs out of this one. Mind you you have to wait a bit until they are done rehashing the old bits from the first movie. The new material was right on track and in most cases much funnier than the original.
  • Good God, then you haven't hear the rumor about LDC bring discussed for the Anakin Skywalker role in the next SW episode. Gag me.

  • You obviously have not heard the rumors then. They are planning on a Titanic II, and it will have Leonardo in it (at a rumored $30 million paycheck). I don't know how they will work him into it because I though he died in the first one (I didn't see it). They way women talk about him, makes me feel like testosterone is a bad thing...
  • Scott Evil (the funniest and most under-valued character in the films) is a rebellious teen, right? We find that he is the love child of Dr. Evil and Frau Farbissina, conceived during a mojo-fueled session of passionate sex in 1969. Wouldn't that make Scott close to 30 years old in 1999? Time travel's a bitch, I suppose.

    TheZork
    (who can proudly assert that he has never - not even in front of a mirror at home - done an Austin Powers impression)
  • Mike Meyers makes a comment about the Peeing scene in the original Austin Powers (DVD Commentary) that he loves taking a mildly amusing joke and stretching it out until it is stupid, and then stretching it out even longer until it becomes hilarious.

    The "That looks like a..." joke is a perfect example of how funny this can be, I think.
  • Did anyone else wait til the end of the Credits and see the Easter Egg?

    Now THAT was hilarious.
  • For those unfortunet saps that didn't wait what happed at the very end?

    Well, right at the end of the credits they go back to the guy who is hurt really really bad and do another scene with him. I believe the line was "Hello? Anyone up there? I've made a makeshift splint and well... here goes nothing! *snap* OOow."

  • From Holland.org [holland.org]

    Population (1990 census):

    City of Holland - 30,375
    Metropolitan Holland area - 73,000

    Holland actually has 3 theaters, but the Knickerbocker generally only shows foreign/art/independent films.


    --
  • I really dug the movie, both of them. Where I used to work my co-workers and I would quote the movie quite often ("there really is nothing like a freshly shorn scrotum...") and I have always thought it was hillarious. I even dug Axe Murderer (Nancy Travis.... mmmmmm - Myers gets all the good babes!). I got tired of WW2 thanks to HBO as is always the case but WW is hillarious to this day.

    I really liked the opening sequence and was glad that the rehashed choreographed scenes from the first movie were kept to a minimum, plus I really liked what they did with it this time around with the tent scene. I think I was crying there for a bit it was so funny. I agree with Rob in that Mini-Me was great as was Scott Evil. Dr. Evil was pretty good as well although not quite as funny as the first time 'round. I won't even go into Heather Graham... but I agree with everyone else! Even though Liz Hurly is the better choice IMHO.

    The scene with Mustafa was classic Mike Myers, and Fat Bastard was a riot. All of this and the word plays, penis synonym sequences, and just the saying, "I am a sexy bitch!" really made this movie a blast to watch. I may have to see this one again before it leaves the theater.
  • But it didn't seem like a movie. Just a conglomeration of skits put
    together that on their own were hilarious.

    This is exactly what Myers movies are about... actually, your
    comment above is almost exactly what I heard someone say about Wayne's
    World... and that really is a great movie... (if you like that sort
    of humor...) I think that Myers has a knack for turning sketch
    comedy into movies, which is a real talent..

    Just my 2c
  • a little on the extremist side, don't you think - even if it is a retalitory exaggeration
  • the difference is that in star wars, people want a continuation of the original 'Star Wars'. when jar jar was added, they realized the movie was not only different, but aimed at a completely new target audience. it's like going into Hellraiser 3 and watching the TelleTubbies! it's as irritating as hell. but, with austin powers, everything's up for grabs - they can do anything.
  • I haven't seen the movie yet, I may not, I don't know. I just bought a DVD player yesterday and I'll probably be spending much of my time watching all of my favourite movies on that great invention (I saw Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas last night and again today and it's just so much better on this format). I bought A Fish Called Wanda when I bought it too. I like the "fishtank" mode :-)*

    Point? Yeah, my point. Just a little tiny point. Garth was not "created" by Myers. He is based on Dana Carvey's brother, Brad, who, interestingly enough, was one of the creators of the Video Toaster. Notice in WW2 the scene where Garth wears a Video Toaster shirt.

    Just thought I'd bring that little nitpick up, even if it's a little offtopic.

    Ok, ok, to bring it more ontopic:

    I was very disturbed by the way the commercials decided to hang off the Phantom Menace hype in the commercials. I wasn't very impressed.
  • I thought the movie was good, but there were problems. I loved a lot of the original jokes, but the COMMERCIALS gave away too many of them. Most of what the commercials didn't give away was stuff from the first movie.

    I thought a lot of the "dated" jokes were funny, but they might hurt the movie's rewatchability in the long run. The movie was definitely entertaining and worth the money to go see if you enjoyed the first one. I just wish the commercials hadn't given so much away. I plan on seeing it again.


    -

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